Which Is Better Horn Or Dish Antenna? - BBT ANTENNAS INC

When it comes to choosing between horn and dish antennas, several factors need to be considered, including the application, desired gain, frequency range, and environmental conditions. Both types of antennas have their unique advantages, making them suitable for different scenarios in wireless communication. In this article, we will delve into the design, functionality, and applications of horn and dish antennas to help determine which might be better for specific use cases.

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What Are The Antennas?

Antennas are crucial components in wireless communication systems, serving as the interface between electrical signals and radio waves. They convert electrical power into radio waves for transmission and vice versa for reception. The performance of an antenna is often measured by its gain, which indicates how effectively it directs radio waves in specific directions.

Horn Antennas

Design and Functionality

Horn antennas are essentially flared waveguides designed to efficiently radiate electromagnetic waves into free space. They are characterized by their tapered shape, which can be circular, rectangular, or a combination of both. This design allows horn antennas to match the impedance of the waveguide to that of free space, enhancing radiation efficiency.

Horn antennas are known for their simplicity and moderate gain (typically between 10 to 20 dB), making them versatile in various communication systems. They are commonly used in applications requiring high directivity but not extreme gain, such as radar systems and microwave links, and as feed elements for larger antennas like parabolic dishes.

Advantages

Simplicity and Cost-Effectiveness: Horn antennas are relatively simple to construct and maintain, which translates into lower manufacturing costs.

Wide Bandwidth: They can operate efficiently over a broad range of frequencies, making them suitable for applications where frequency flexibility is important.

High Efficiency: Horn antennas offer high efficiency, which is beneficial for applications where power conservation is crucial.

Noise Rejection: They are effective at rejecting noise from off-axis sources, which can improve signal quality in noisy environments.

Dish Antennas

Design and Functionality

Dish antennas, also known as parabolic dish antennas, consist of a parabolic reflector and a feed antenna located at the focus of the parabola. They work by reflecting radio waves onto a focal point, achieving high gain and directivity. This design allows dish antennas to focus signals tightly, making them ideal for long-distance communication, such as satellite communications and deep-space radio communications.

Advantages

High Gain and Directivity: Parabolic dish antennas offer significantly higher gains than horn antennas, making them suitable for applications requiring precise signal focusing over long distances.

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Versatility: They are utilized in a variety of long-distance communication applications.

Global Coverage: Dish antennas can provide global coverage, reaching remote areas where other communication methods are not feasible.

Choosing Between Horn and Dish Antennas

The choice between a horn and a dish antenna depends on the specific requirements of the application:

Gain and Directivity: If high gain and directivity are crucial, such as in long-distance microwave links, a dish antenna is more suitable. For applications requiring moderate gain and a simpler setup, horn antennas are preferable.

Frequency Range and Bandwidth: Horn antennas offer a wider bandwidth, making them more versatile in terms of frequency operation. Dish antennas typically operate within a narrower frequency range but provide higher gain.

Environmental Conditions: In noisy environments, horn antennas can offer better noise rejection. However, if the environment is not noisy, the gain advantage of a dish antenna might be more beneficial.

Unlocking Your Communication Potential with BBT ANTENNAS

For those seeking high-quality horn and dish antennas tailored to specific needs, BBT ANTENNAS offers a comprehensive range of products that cater to diverse applications. Our horn antennas are designed to support modern communication networks, providing reliable and efficient data transmission for wireless broadband systems, WLAN WiFi6/6E/7 CBRS systems, and long-distance transmission scenarios.

On the other hand, the dish antennas from BBT Antennas are engineered to deliver high-gain solutions for secure and reliable long-distance wireless connections, including WLAN, WIFI, WIMAX point-to-point systems, and wireless bridges. These antennas are built with durability in mind, featuring anti-UV and anti-aging coatings that provide strong resistance to corrosion and wind, ensuring optimal performance in harsh environments.

Whether you need the versatility of horn antennas or the high gain of dish antennas, we have the expertise to provide solutions that meet your specific communication needs.

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Conclusion

Hi everyone, thanks for getting back to me! The frequency range I had in mind is the 770MHz range. One dish I was looking at had 21dBi of gain, but was 55lbs, so I guess a yagi would be better unless someone has evidence otherwise. Antenna Manufacturer | ZDA Communications, the website I was looking at, does have smaller grid dishes that have as much as 15dBi of gain and weigh under 8lbs.The grid dishes have a significantly lower wind load and weigh less then conventional solid parabolic dishes beings that the reflective dish is made of a wire grid. The manufacturer also reccomend this dish for applications such as 700MHz Public Safety systems, which is what I would use it for. Is this a possibility?

Here is the dish datasheet:
http://www.zdacomm.com/images/PDF/ZDAGP750.pdf

Thanks for your input everyone, and if anyone else comes up with more ideas, please post!

I just happen to have terrible reception on some towers downstate and would like to try and receive some radio systems that are very far away (60+ miles). The area of Newark that I am in is known for terrible reception as it dips down and has lots of trees and other obstructions.

Also I think a dish looks cool, but that's not the real reason I'm interested in it.

If you don't think I need the amount of gain I mentioned, how about if I chose the smallest dish with 10dBi gain. The dish looks about 12-14in wide and weighs 4lbs? Or is using a dish technically overkill?

If you're trying to hear systems 60 miles away, all that gain might help. But keep in mind that a lot of systems are designed specifically not to cover too far outside their service areas. There's only so much you can do if you're really that far outside the designed coverage area.

The extra gain from a larger antenna can help if trees and things are attenuating signals. Also, be a bit leery of the claims of some antenna manufacturers. 21db gain at 700 MHz is going to require a dish on the order of 6 feet in diameter, and if someone claims that sort of gain with something much smaller than that, they're lying.

I just happen to have terrible reception on some towers downstate and would like to try and receive some radio systems that are very far away (60+ miles). The area of Newark that I am in is known for terrible reception as it dips down and has lots of trees and other obstructions.

Also I think a dish looks cool, but that's not the real reason I'm interested in it.

If you don't think I need the amount of gain I mentioned, how about if I chose the smallest dish with 10dBi gain. The dish looks about 12-14in wide and weighs 4lbs? Or is using a dish technically overkill?

If what you say is true, a super large gain antenna may not help you much. A gain antenna is only helpful if there's some signal (over the noise level) for it to capture. If you're in a low spot with many obstructions to block the signal and/or trees or other things to absorb the signal there may be nothing much left from that far away but noise. With that large of a distance, you'll also be fighting the curvature of the earth, at least to some extent, causing the height issues and signal loss to be even greater.

What you may need to work on is height, not antenna gain. That would put you above the obstructions and up where there may be enough signal to capture. You'll not only need to get above the trees, but over the obstructions as much as you can. That height will probably require a very good quality coax (think Andrew Heliax like LDF4-50A - Heliax Coax - LDF4-50A or better) to reduce the associated coax loss.

Your situation may be similar to you standing outside of a soundproof studio watching a band play inside of that studio. The soundproofing (like your low location) keeps the band's sound from being heard by you, even if they turn their amps up quite loud (you using a high-gain antenna). Now if somebody happens to open the studio doors (you getting your antenna where there's enough signal level), you can hear fine.

A high gain dish is used to provide not only gain, but even more often a narrower beamwidth. A yagi may give you a 20 degree beamwidth while a dish may only have a 5 degree beamwidth. This is often necessary since microwave links are generally point-to-point and the frequencies are reused for signal paths going different directions. With a large dish, you would need to point the antenna very accurately (and hope that the wind doesn't blow it off course) while with a yagi, you need much less accuracy when pointing the antenna.